This is the final report of a USOE study to determine the educational significance of the future. Chapter I summarizes the study and makes recommendations. Chapter II is designed to provide an "action picture" of futures planning insofar as it could be caught in motion during 1971-1972. Chapter III discusses policy research with a bearing on education. Its content is drawn from the survey interview form used in the study, as well as from printed materials. "The Educational Signifance of the Future" is explored in Chapter IV This part of the report is composed of the opinions which a majority of futurists seem to share in regard to the tasks and problems of United States schools as well as much education related information abstracted from the survey questionnaire. The chapter concludes with a review of possible changes in U.S. educational policies, structures, and organization. Chapter V endeavors to examine the question of whether, and if so, how, the USOE can make better use of the Educational Policy Research Centers at the Stanford and Syracuse research institutes. A short bibliography listing books and articles germane to the study concludes the report. (Author/SHM)